


Of Depressed Goldfish and Sushi

by crystalemi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, merman kenma, some nudity, were owl bokuto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 09:50:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10215068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalemi/pseuds/crystalemi
Summary: “I know it’s late and I don’t know you, but I hear you can talk to fish and I’m worried my goldfish is depressed.”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fish_wifey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fish_wifey/gifts).



> This is my gift for fish-wifey for the hq!! rare pair exchange. Before you start reading: this is set in some kind of dormitory that vaguely reminds of American colleges, but it is a dorm strictly for creatures (It doesn't even have to be related to a school tbh, I didn't think of it as anything else other than a safe haven for creatures). All of the characters are either monsters or have mixed blood. Bokuto turns into a owl, but not in this fic (unfortunately).  
> The prompt I used comes from here.

**Of Depressed Goldfish and Sushi**

 

“I know it’s late and I don’t know you, but I hear you can talk to fish and I’m worried my goldfish is depressed.”

Kenma only likes two people: Kuroo and Hinata. He would like to add Lev and Yaku to the list, but they’ve been impossible for weeks and he’s recently decided to demote them. He won’t be demoting neither Kuroo nor Hinata, because he’s already plotting their death.

There’s a guy at his dorm’s door and he knows him as _the-owl-guy-Kuroo-and-Hinata-are-platonically-gay-for_ and he can’t stand him to save his life. He’s always happy and loud and obnoxious and _oh so annoying_. Everytime he’s around, Kenma has to forcibly restrain himself from doing “the nose thing”, as Kuroo likes to call his sneering face. Kenma can’t believe Kuroo and Hinata would ever send owl-guy to his door, but here he is, and who else could ever be behind this if not Kuroo or Hinata or both of them at once? Kenma has done nothing to deserve such a bothering creature on his door step, he’s even been an almost good friend this past few days. Why send owl-guy to him?

“No,” he says to the whole universe and the entirety of his day, and closes the door on him.

He expected the guy to start pounding on his door, but silence is all he’s met with. That somehow feels wrong. Kenma can feel a new and weird emotion crawl up his spine and he hopes he hasn’t misread the guy for innocuous while he’s actually extremely violent. That would really suck, dying because he refused to talk to a depressed goldfish.

He grows curious after a while, when there’s still no noise from the other side of door. He decides that peeking for a couple of seconds should not kill him.

It kind of does, however. Owl-guy is sitting on the floor in front of his door and the fishbowl is right next to him. The goldfish does look a bit under the weather, but not sickly so. More like she’s bored, or angry. It is owl-guy, instead, the one looking depressed.

Kenma’s never liked people because he’s _weak_ for people. He doesn’t like upsetting them so he just stays away. He doesn’t like getting attached and so he doesn’t approach them. People require a level of effort and patience that he simply doesn’t have in him. People are confusing and push expectations on him that just worsen his anxiety. He’s better off without people in his life.

Of course, he’s never been coherent with himself enough to leave Kuroo or Hinata or even that hot mess that is Lev. That lack of willpower must be why he sighs loud enough to be heard (and watches owl-guy somehow become even smaller-looking in his spot on the floor - quite a feat, considering he’s huge) and walk the short distance to the fishbowl. The goldfish is exactly the kind of asshole he’s never liked. Somehow, the whole species is made of assholes (no wonder humans find them pretty) and this one appears to be quite the pretentious diva.

“Inside,” he says and takes the bowl in his hands. Owl-guy follows him in and carefully closes the door behind his self. He looks meek and sad, and Kenma is _weak_ for people, so he even offers one of Kuroo’s beers. Owl-guy accepts it, although reluctantly, and never opens the can. He simply stares at it, looking so terribly hurt and dejected.

Kenma still feels weirdly guilty, so he guides owl-guy to the bathtub in his room and starts filling it with water. He makes sure it’s at the right temperature for the goldfish, even though it’ll be cold for him.

Owl-guy looks around his room unashamed, and usually Kenma would feel self-conscious, but he’s more nervous about getting naked and then transforming in front of him, to actually care for his clothes on his chair or the lack of a bed.

Somehow the guy’s too interested in his game consoles to actually notice Kenma undressing, but he looks back at him when he hears the water slosh around the moment Kenma sits in the tub. The transformation is painful as always, but Kenma’s grown used to it by then. He’s spent ten years with Kuroo in the human realm, and turning from and back to his natural mermen form is hardly a concern anymore.

Owl-guy, however, has never seen a merman, or so it seems. He’s staring openly at Kenma’s colourful tail and fins, having completely forgotten about his goldfish.

The goldfish in question is caught by Kenma’s claws and gently lowered into the water, which has raised up to Kenma’s shoulder in the meantime.

The goldfish swims around him, confident in her safety. Kenma’s eaten bigger fish than this prissy goldfish, and wouldn’t mind an appetizer, but he also doesn’t like the idea of the huge baby crying and mourning her next to his bathtub.

He slowly slides down until his head is completely underneath the water and his transformation is complete.

He never liked himself as a human, but he also never truly appreciated his body as a merman. It’s a body that serves its purpose. Nevertheless, his skin and scales are translucent and softer than his human skin, but more resistant. They are beautiful, or so does Kuroo claim.

Kenma is unsure, but Owl-guy ( _Bokuto_ , says the goldfish) is staring at his body in awe. It makes Kenma nervous, in a weirdly pleasant way. He’s shy, he’s never been watched by anyone but Kuroo. He’s been stared at, like he wasn’t there, and that’s what he’s always aimed for. Go unnoticed, invisible.

But Bokuto’s eyes are heavy on his body, his staring is almost a physical caress. It sends a thrill down Kenma’s spine. The goldfish is chattering on about Bokuto, but Kenma is almost unable to follow through her reasoning on why she should be given fried tofu for dinner on weekends.

Bokuto is still looking at his tail. Kenma can’t take it anymore when the goldfish starts talking about Bokuto’s nightly activities, and raises his head above the water, his hair sticking to his tomato red cheeks.

Bokuto’s cheeks are red too, his breathing so slow and controlled that Kenma almost thinks he’s holding it. He isn’t and he looks gorgeous like this, with his pupils blown out of proportion, and the warm golden irises just thin circles around them.

Kenma should be scared. He’s seen those eyes already on predators, long before he came to stay with Kuroo. Instead, he’s aroused.

“What,” Bokuto starts. His voice is too raw, so he coughs and tries again, “What does she say?”

Kenma feels a tiny smug grin form on his thin lips. He doesn’t want it to, but his whole body is out of control.

“She wants fried tofu on weekends, wants to watch again that Korean drama you binge watched on Valentine’s Day, and she’d appreciate if you turn the light on when you masturbate.”

Bokuto’s gaze loses its fire as his cheeks go aflame. He hides his face in his hands, and sputters something unintelligible. It is adorable, but Kenma will never admit to thinking it, not even under torture.

“I’ll forget about that last part,” Kenma says, and Bokuto perks up from behind his hands, “if you take me out for dinner.”

Bokuto does this funny thing with his mouth: Kenma can see it open widely, in surprise, from behind his hands. Bokuto tries to speak but never closes it and some weird embarrassing noise comes out.

Kenma finds these cute responses almost as entertaining as a game. It is a game, on some level. He wants to see what this crush the Goldfish was speaking of will get them.

He’s not confident that Bokuto will like him once he gets to know him, but it’s sweet how dear Bokuto can be. A very loud part of Kenma (possibly his survival instincts) are screaming murder at his newly awaken reckless part. When Bokuto will tire of him, it’ll hurt. Kenma is already scared, but he’s been hearing a lot on owl-guy from both Kuroo and Hinata. Moreover, Yaku’s been bugging him to be a little more adventurous with people and what an adventure Bokuto seems to be promising.

“SUSHI!” Bokuto manages to say, loudly enough that Kenma’s nose scrunches up. He’ll have to get used to screaming, Kenma guesses.

“Not until the first date,” he answers, hoping the same crude humour that Kuroo adores will work on Bokuto too. He’s wrong, because Bokuto first goes pale and then back to flaming red. It looks like his blushing has spread to his neck. _Cute_ , is the only thing on Kenma’s mind.

“OH MY GOD SORRY I DIDN’T MEAN THAT,” Bokuto screams and Kenma feels his lips thin out in a genuinely amused smile.

At the very least, he’ll have fun, he thinks.

***

Kenma’s mad. Furious almost.

He’s been playing this videogame for three days straight and he was finally close to defeating the final boss. Of course that hasn’t happened.

Kenma thought he’d have fun with Bokuto three years ago, but right now he’s not having fun at all. Bokuto’s literally lifted him from the ground where he had been sitting and playing, like Kenma weighted nothing, and brought him to his bathtub.

Kenma’s watched his character die on the screen like a noob while hanging from Bokuto’s wonderfully distracting shoulders. What’s worse is that he can’t even work the frustration out of his head, because Bokuto’s unable to have any kind of sex while immersed in water. He just goes all blissed out and Kenma’s left unsatisfied and annoyed. It seems to be an owl thing.

Kenma had been drying out on the carpet, in Bokuto’s defence. His skin feels wonderful now that it’s wet again and his scales are slowly and painfully breaking through it to turn him back to a merman.

Bokuto’s sweet, Kenma knows, and he puts Kenma’s wellbeing before Kenma’s will. It is a _problem_. He wonders when he’s realised that Bokuto isn’t a giant overeager puppy, but is actually pretty smart.

Bokuto overthinks a lot and it drives him into depressive episodes, with which Kenma still doesn’t know how to deal, and he’s thoughtful and deep when he wants to be.

He’s very particular with Kenma’s wellbeing and Kenma hates it, because somehow he’s always right.

Kuroo would have left him there, he would have eventually wet him with a bowl, carefully avoiding getting water on his controller. Bokuto doesn’t care about Kenma’s game and he always, _always,_ steals him from his fights and drops him in the already full tub.

It drives Kenma nuts. Bokuto doesn’t care that he’ll get the cold shoulder for days. He’s just that nice of a guy. He wants Kenma healthy.

Kenma wants murder.

It’s been three years and Bokuto’s stopped walking on eggshells around him, which means that now Kenma gets treated as the most precious and stubborn pearl of the seven seas.

Sometimes he minds, other times he enjoys it, but what’s important is that Bokuto’s still to grow tired of him. It’s quite the miracle, considering Bokuto’s short attention span – it’s not surprising, considering how loyal he is to all his friends.

Kenma’s a bit –a lot– in love, even now that he has to sit in the bathtub far away from his almost finished game.

It doesn’t look like he’ll get anything he wants, when Bokuto, instead of joining him in the tub, leaves the room for the kitchen. He can hear faint voices and he guesses Kuroo must be still up, studying.

He’s not left alone long, anyway. Bokuto comes in, holding up on one hand a tray filled with their favourite sushi rolls and sashimi, and a bucket full of ice and a bottle of something that look expensive. He’s also holding a couple of flutes by their stems, one in between his teeth, the other in between his fingers, from the hand holding up the ice bucket.

He puts down the ice bucket and both glasses.

“Anniversary,” he explains at Kenma’s confused face.

Kenma’s cheeks grow hot and red. He’s forgotten about that. He’s lost time of what month it is, but it’s not an excuse. Before he can awkwardly ask for forgiveness, Bokuto goes on:

“So, you said “no sushi until the third date”, and well,” he says as he puts the tray on the larger side of the tub, and takes the bottle out of the bucket. It’s expensive and it’s Italian sparkling wine, the same label they had on some important event a few years before. Kenma had loved it, and Bokuto remembered.

“I had a lot of sushi this past three years, but we didn’t really have sushi, you know?” He muses, Kenma wants to say they had it a lot with Kuroo and Yaku and Akaashi and Lev, but he gets the point. It has never been a date, never just the two of them.

“So, third date, third anniversary, a lot of thirds here, so I thought, “why not?”, right? And here we are.”

Kenma is simultaneously humbled by Bokuto’s dedication to their relationship and ashamed of himself for forgetting and getting mad at him for interrupting his game time.

Bokuto hands him a flute filled to the brink and pours another one for himself.

“To us,” Kenma says shyly, holding up his glass toward Bokuto’s. His boyfriend smiles brilliantly, his good mood restored. The glass clinks loudly and the sound reverberates inside the bedroom.

“To us,” Bokuto says, before downing his drink. Kenma sips on it, letting the sweet taste invade his more sensitive buds, anticipating the taste of the wine mixed with Bokuto’s own special taste.

Three years aren’t that long of a time span, but it is quite a feat for Kenma. They’ve had rough times and amazing time, they’ve had great dates and horrible dates, they’ve had spectacular sex and embarrassing sex. They’ve had bad days and good days. The good is the most relevant. Kenma’s glad he listened to a stupid goldfish tell him this weird owl-guy was just looking for a chance to talk to him and ask him out, all those years ago.

All that it matters then, however, is the spicy taste of the sushi on his tongue and the gentle touch of Bokuto’s fingers on his lips. It’s the taste of Bokuto’s kiss before he’s even had time to swallow his bite. It’s Bokuto’s taste on his tongue, and the happy smile that makes the kiss so messy and perfect.

What matters to Kenma this days is Bokuto and Bokuto alone.


End file.
